The Wise Mind Journal

"DBT Certified" is not Marsha Linehan approved, who created Dialectical Behavior Therapy. DBT-C is offered by another company altogether and is not Linehan Board Certified (LBC) or approved. DBT Certified is a quick process unlike LBC which requires years at times to complete and is the gold standard for all DBT therapists. We aspire to become LBC. 

Currently, we adhere to Marsha Linehan's model and are trained by organizations she approves, in accordance with DBT. There are no known LBC therapists in Western North Carolina, according to our knowledge. We are currently the only group practice in the area that offers "comprehensive DBT." 

Yes, we offer comprehensive DBT, according to Marsha Linehan's model, which includes individual therapy, a DBT skills training group, phone coaching for the client and weekly consultation for the therapist. Our therapists are trained by the Treatment Implementation Collaborative, which is led by Marsha Linehan's trusted colleagues. 

Comprehensive DBT is strongly recommended for anyone with a history of suicidal behaviors or self-harm and required at our practice if recently hospitalized or inpatient for these reasons. Comprehensive DBT can be helpful for many others as well, that are highly sensitive, frequently emotionally dysregulated, engaging in high-risk behaviors, have complex diagnoses and trauma, severe mental illness, and for those that just want to learn more coping skills and strategies for a "life worth living." 

Our group is based on the four skill modules of DBT: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.  Groups rotate through these three modules: distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. And mindfulness is used throughout every module. 

We follow the Linehan model where new members join between each module every 1.5 months and are eligible for graduation after approximately 6 months of DBT group. Some choose to do a second rotation and stay in the group for an entire year to complete a 12-month rotation. The group co-leaders and your individual therapist will help decide if you are ready to graduate or if another round of DBT Skills Group will be helpful. 

In order to receive comprehensive DBT, your individual therapist will support you by reinforcing skills, completing diary cards, assisting with homework, and being available for phone coaching. While some of our group members request to stay with their preferred outside therapist, a DBT therapist is required to be considered comprehensive DBT. We cannot offer phone coaching to clients that do not see one of our therapists for individual therapy. 

Yes, we require all of our group members to have an individual therapist, even if they aren't engaging in comprehensive DBT. 

Our DBT Skills group is primarily a learning experience, not a processing group. These sessions are instructional and provide a space for members to learn and practice the skills. Having an individual therapist enhances the impacts of learning the skills and allows members to process emotions and spend extra time on skills with that therapist. 

Your individual therapist does not have to be someone at our practice, but you must be seeing someone for individual support. We have also found that those with outside therapists while in our DBT Skills Groups, do not usually learn the materials as quickly as those with therapists at our practice helping to reinforce the skills. 

Our groups are private pay only. Our DBT groups are $100, and our process groups are $75.  Please inquire at info@avldbttrauma.com for low fee availability in groups. We do not accept any insurances for our groups, as DBT is considered psycho-educational and has homework, with a class format. 

Further, insurance companies reimburse at a significantly low-rate for group therapy, which makes it unaffordable for us to have two co-leaders (as required in DBT) in each group if we were reimbursed by insurance for groups. 

We accept commercial and private BCBS and Aetna insurance plans for individual and family therapy only. While we are covered by BCBS we do not accept their Medicaid plan Healthy Blue or any Medicare Supplement plans. We also do not accept Mission insurance for Mission Hospital employees, as while it is Aetna insurance, behavioral health is Optum, which we do not accept. 

You can find more information about fees on the Fees page. Our groups and couples therapy are private pay only. We also have highly trained interns under direct weekly supervision by our Senior Clinicians at the practice, which offer pay-whatever-you-can therapy.